Been perfecting this setup for 5 years

natdigga

Junior Member
To get an idea of what I was able to get out of the 4 mic setup you can see in the pics, here's a snippet of a song I'm recording with a few friends. It's just guitar and drums for now, and the mix is still really rough.
View attachment Dante's Fall1.mp3

This setup gone through more variations than Mike Portnoy's facial hair. The basic idea is to have the hi-hat and snare perfectly centered in between the double bass drum pedals (this requires a remote hi-hat pedal of course). I got the idea from Danny Carey. The trick is getting all the different cymbals and drums in a playable arrangement on the rack, as it doesn't use any stands except for the main snare. Because I have finna got the exact parts I've wanted for the past 5 years (due to financial constraints and some of the parts being difficult to acquire) and I feel like I've perfected some kind of weird symmetry with the positioning, I am calling this the Final Solution.

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Tama shells and hardware
-14" x 4" Artwood Maple Titanium Burst snare
-14" x 5.5" Starclassic G Copper snare
-14" x 8" Starclassic G Maple Cherry Black snare
-8" x 7" Starclassic Birch Performer Psychedelic Red tom
-10" x 8" Starclassic Birch Performer Psychedelic Red tom
-12" x 9" Starclassic Birch Performer Psychedelic Red tom
-14" x 12" Starclassic Birch Performer Psychedelic Red tom
-22" x 18" Starclassic Birch Performer Psychedelic Red bass
-Iron Cobra Power Glide Twin bass pedal w/ CB90 rubber beaters
-HH95CH remote hi-hat pedal
-TPA90 Twin Pedal attachment
-Roadpro snare stand
-SNA22 auxiliary snare basket
-MTH900AS tom mounts
-MC67 clamp (two pieces used separately)
-MHS53 Wood Hoop Saver patch
-Rythm Watch RW105 metronome

Synethesia electronic drum
-Mandala mk2.9 pad
-Mandala Virtual Brain v3.0 software

Sabian cymbals
-7" Ice Bell
-14" HHX Evolution Mini Chinese
-16" AAXplosion Crash
-11" Signature Max Splash
-13" AAX X-celerator Hats
-10" Signature Max Stax Mid
-18" AAXplosion Crash
-21" AA Rock Ride
-18" HHX Chinese

Evans heads
-Snare batter: Power Center reverse dot (G Copper and G Maple), ST Dry (Artwood)
-Snare side: Hazy 300
-Tom batter: G2 clear
-Tom resonance: G1 clear
-Bass batter: EQ3 clear
-Bass resonance: Retro Screen
-EQ Pad bass drum muffler
-EQ bass drum patches

Gibraltar hardware
-9608 Round Vinyl throne
-Straight rack tube and Block Rubber feet
-Road Series, SC-GRSRA, SC-GPRMC, SC-GPRRA, and SC-GPRTC multiclamps
-Cymbal boom arms and mini cymbal boom arms
-SC-RBA cymbal boom attachments

Vic Firth sticks and practice gear
-Danny Carey Signature sticks
-Stick Caddy
-Double Sided Practice Pad

Alternate G-Copper snare that isn't currently on the kit:
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So, do you think you could play on this weird setup? And how do you think the drum recording quality is for being on 4 mics?
 
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Thanks! The Mandala is 342052173x better than the Roland electronic drums I used to have on the kit. One day in the distant future when I will allow myself to start buying new drums/cymbals again, I hope to have 3 or 4 of them.
 
Very cool ... I'm doing a similar thing, but with a 5 piece.​
Once my new drum studio gets finished (the building, itself), I'll have a hybrid kit, set up like this. With two Mandala V1's, two Korg Wave Drums, a Roland SPD-S, a loop station, and a "few" other toys that have come my way.​
I can appreciate you 5 years "devotion" to the Solution. Indeed, Rome was not built in a day.​
 

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That finish is boss. What model/year are the drums?

Also, how well does your remote hi-hat work?

Mine is slightly less responsive than say, an Iron Cobra hi-hat stand, but probably on par with or better than your average hi-hat stand. My only complaint is that there are two 'open' positions on mine. Usually it goes all the way open to where I set it, but sometimes it goes to this weird halfway position like the mechanism is somehow giving extra friction. I've tried increasing the spring tension and tightening all the hardware, but to no avail. Anyone had this experience before with their hi-hat stand?
 
That finish is boss. What model/year are the drums?
Thanx. 30 year old Luddy 6 ply shells. The 26 and the 18 are the factory thermogloss finish, and the 13 and 16 were refinished to match.​
Also, how well does your remote hi-hat work?
I love the Yamaha WHS 860S. I've put my foot on just about every remote hat there is (I like NAMM shows), and the Yamaha was the winner, for me. Feels just like my other two hi-hat stands .... which is just what I wanted. I know about that half-position thing you mentioned. The Yamaha doesn't do that. It's very smooth.​
 
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